Star Wars: Mark Hamill Thinks Films Have Been Released Too Quickly

Solo: A Star Wars Story might have earned a big chunk of money at the box office and earned relatively positive reviews from critics, but by Star Wars standards, some have deemed the film a “disappointment.” The prevailing theory for why the film fell short of expectations is that it was released too quickly after Star Wars: The Last Jedi hit theaters, a theory which actor Mark Hamill supports.

“In our day, it was three years apart. Now they’re two years apart, with a [spinoff] movie in between,” Hamill shared with Den of Geek. “I say to the executives at Disney, ‘Really? Han Solo five months after our movie? Give it a rest!’ They say, ‘Well, we have to keep the schedule clear for Mary Poppins.’”

He added, “But I can be mouthy, because you know, what are they gonna do, fire me?”

It’s difficult to argue with Hamill’s comments, as the first trailer for Solo didn’t even debut until after The Last Jedi hit theaters, whereas previous films in the series debuted their trailers as much as 13 months before their release and as short as eight months before their release. While franchise fanatics might have been aware of the film, casual audiences weren’t as tuned in to the project, with the short time between films preventing much anticipation from building.

Disney CEO Bob Iger essentially admitted to the poor decision on the timing of Solo‘s release, while also noting that pacing of the saga would be more deliberate in the future.

“I made the timing decision, and as I look back, I think the mistake that I made — I take the blame — was a little too much, too fast. You can expect some slowdown, but that doesn’t mean we’re not gonna make films,” Iger shared with The Hollywood Reporter last September. “J.J. [Abrams] is busy making [Episode] IX. We have creative entities, including [Game of Thrones co-creators David] Benioff and [D.B.] Weiss, who are developing sagas of their own, which we haven’t been specific about. And we are just at the point where we’re gonna start making decisions about what comes next after J.J.’s. But I think we’re gonna be a little bit more careful about volume and timing. And the buck stops here on that.”

The next film fans can expect is Star Wars: Episode IX on December 20th. There are no confirmed release dates for Star Wars films after Episode IX.

What do you think of Hamill’s remarks? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

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